


We Lay Here For Years Or For Hours

by Flavoredfaeman



Category: The Mechanisms (Band), Ulysses Dies at Dawn - The Mechanisms (Album)
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Character Death, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Not A Fix-It, Not A Happy Ending, Sad Ending, The inherent homoeroticism of dying in your lover's arms, This is not Happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:13:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27922066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flavoredfaeman/pseuds/Flavoredfaeman
Summary: After 'Sunrise' Ulysses goes to rest with their lover, but two other lovers are left dying togetherOr Heracles and Oedipus are in love and die together
Relationships: Heracles/Oedipus
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chaoticfoolish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticfoolish/gifts).



> I am once again making fics about underappreciated pairings
> 
> Cw:  
> Major character death! No one lives, sorry  
> Blood and bad injuries  
> Emeto warning, Heracles chokes on his blood  
> Eye trauma
> 
> Read with caution! Lmk if you want me to give warnings for anything else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heracles' chapter

The door to the vault closes, never to reopen.

And a painful silence fills the air, only broken by the sound of choked gasps as the suits lie dead and dying.

It is in this quiet end that Heracles reaches out to Oedipus, who lays crumpled in on himself and shaking, tears mixing with blood as they drip down his face.

He tries to speak, to tell Oedipus he wasn't angry anymore, but the blood filling his throat and lungs made the attempts pointless, just painful gurgles.

No. He couldn't let this happen. Oedipus couldn't die thinking he was still angry at him, he couldn't. They couldn't die like this.

Desperately, Heracles grabs at Oedipus and pulls him close. Oedipus scrambles closer, still shaking like a leaf.

"H-Heracles?" his voice comes out choked and small and Heracles holds him tighter.

Oedipus pulls back, sitting up and furiously trying to pull out the damn first aid kit he kept on his person with one hand, keeping the other on Heracles, as if to make sure he wouldn't disappear.

He manages to pull it out and then, fumbling, he pulls out gauze and desperately gets to work. His shaking mostly stops, as it always had when he put his mind to something.

He presses the gauze into one of Heracles' wounds and then begins pulling out more.

"W-we're getting out of here. The s-second you're all bandaged. But you have to help me here."

Heracles just stares up at Oedipus, his hand resting lightly on Oedipus' hand. He… he had to know that this was pointless, that they would die.

He presses the gauze into one wound and then bites his lips as he carefully tries to find the second wound.

"Can you hold this h-here?" Oedipus asks when he finds the spot, and Heracles can feel the shaking of his hand get worse as he feels where the wound is.

When Heracles doesn't make a move to help Oedipus makes a face of pained distress.

"Heracles?" His voice couldn't hide his panic. "Heracles please-"

That kicked Heracles into motion and he reached up and gently took Oedipus' hands in his own and pulled them away from his wounds.

_ "Heracles," _ Oedipus pleaded.

Heracles pressed a gentle kiss on his hands through the blood, and knowing that Oedipus could feel his head he shook it.

As he shook his head Oedipus' face crumpled, along with the rest of him as he let himself fall into Heracles.

Heracles just held him close, his chin pressed against the top of Oedipus' head. He didn't know what else he could do.

"We're getting out of here, I promise. We're getting out of this fucking city," Oedipus whispered through his tears, clinging to Heracles' suit.

Heracles nodded, though even he knew that that wasn't an option anymore.

"I-" Oedipus took a shaky breath and clung tighter to Heracles, "I love you."

Heracles felt his heart flutter and a feeling of panic start to blossom in his chest. He opened his mouth, trying to say it back, but all that came out was choked and unrecognizable. Hot tears of frustration began to prick at his eyes and he held Oedipus closer, begging him to understand.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," Oedipus whispered, burying his head into Heracles' neck. "I love you. I'm sorry. I love you."

Heracles pressed a bloody kiss into Oedipus' head and nodded again.

"We're going to make it out. We have to," Oedipus whispered. "We have to because I love you."

And there laid two weary lovers, holding each other as one love is confessed while another is silently understood.

They laid in each other's embrace until a sweet sort of rest embraced them. That rest was not to be long lived as the acheron always hungered for more minds, but it was blissful and it was well earned.

And one day, not too long after this one, the acheron is burned and the two weary lovers are finally allowed back into that rest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oedipus' chapter
> 
> (cws the same as before)

The door to the vault closes, never to reopen.

And a painful silence fills the air, only broken by the sound of choked gasps as the suits lie dead and dying.

It is in this quiet end that Oedipus finds himself lost in the dark.

It doesn't take long for the pain to become unnoticeable as his panic takes over. He cannot see and he does not know who still lives and who has died.

He does not know if Heracles has already died.

He cannot breathe and it is between that and the pain that he lets out choked gasps and he does not know if the warmth flowing down his face is tears or blood or even a mixture of both.

He does not know who is alive and he doesn't know where Heracles is to check.

Then he hears a choked noise and feels familiar hands pulling him into a familiar embrace.

_ Heracles. _

He was alive. He was  _ alive. _

Oedipus scrambled to get closer, panic starting to subside but fear still clinging to him.

"H-Heracles?" Oedipus whispered, sure his voice was just as small as he thought it was.

Heracles just held him closer. Why wasn't he talking? Was he… he wasn't still mad at him was he? No. No Heracles may be stubborn but for gods' sake, they were  _ dying, _ he would've said something. Then. Oh. The choked noises. Fuck.

His wounds must be bad if he can't even speak.

Oedipus pulled himself up, furiously pulling out his first aid kit, and willing himself to stop shaking.

If Heracles' wounds were that bad he couldn't waste any time or let himself shake when he could potentially die.

He pulls out gauze and finds the first wound easily, making note of all the potential injuries. This one wasn't too bad, if it was the only one all he would really have to worry about is the blood loss.

He pulled out more gauze, then pauses, remembering that he should be telling Heracles what was happening.

"W-we're getting out of here. The s-second you're all bandaged. But you have to help me here." He tries to keep the desperation out of his voice and isn't sure it works, but he takes Heracles' silence as understanding and goes to find the next wound.

When he does his breath catches in his throat. This one was bad. He really couldn't be fully sure, but it was probably somewhere between his heart and his lung, maybe even piercing one of them. That was bad.

"Can you hold this h-here?" Oedipus knows his panic is growing again but they could do this. They would survive.

Then Heracles doesn't make a move to help and his panic shoots up again, even worse than before.

"Heracles?" He had to help, if Heracles didn't help then neither of them were going to get out and they both had to get out. "Heracles please-"

And then Heracles' hands were on Oedipus', pulling them away from his wounds.

_ "Heracles," _ Oedipus pleaded. He had to help Heracles, they had to make it out, it didn't matter how small a chance was for they're survival, it didn't matter that Oedipus was already dizzy from blood loss, it didn't matter how injured Heracles was. They would get out.

Heracles pressed a gentle but bloody kiss to Oedipus' hand, startling him out of his thought spiral.

Then Heracles shook his head, Oedipus' hand still pressed to his lips.

No… no they were not going to get out of here.

Oedipus crumpled back into Heracles, who just held him close.

"We're getting out of here, I promise. We're getting out of this fucking city," Oedipus whispered through his tears, clinging to Heracles' suit.

Heracles nodded, his chin bumping against Oedipus' head.

If they were going to die Heracles had to know. And maybe he already did, gods, Oedipus hoped he already knew. But just in case he had to tell him.

"I-" Oedipus took a shaky breath and clung tighter to Heracles, building up his courage, "I love you."

Heracles stiffened under him and Oedipus could feel his mouth open to reply but again nothing came out. Then he just held Oedipus even closer, even tighter.

Oedipus felt a pang in his chest, he had known, somewhere inside him he'd always known but this small confirmation made it real.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," Oedipus whispered, burying his head into Heracles' neck. "I love you. I'm sorry. I love you."

He didn't want to stop saying it, if… if Heracles couldn't then he would say it for both of them.

Heracles pressed a bloody kiss into his head and nodded again, and Oedipus wanted to cry and scream and fight because they had just fucking started. They had just got together, just fell in love, they weren't done. They were still stuck in this fucking city. They had lost so much time already, dodging their emotions and putting off talking to one another.

This couldn't be it. This couldn't be the end.

"We're going to make it out. We have to," Oedipus whispered. "We have to because I love you."

They laid there, holding one another, Oedipus whispering 'I love you's and promises, until Heracles went limp in his arms.

Something snapped just then, inside Oedipus.

This really was the end. This really was how they went out.

It hurt. It hurt so much.

It was unfair and it was painful and it was bitter, just like the fucking city.

Oedipus thinks he might be screaming, or maybe he's just sobbing uncontrollably. There's a sort of distance between him and this scene playing out in front of him.

They wouldn't be leaving. They would die here in the city and get put into the acheron and that would be the end.

He would never escape, and he would never live with Heracles, and he would never say 'I love you,' and they would never get married.

He would never see Heracles outside of the city.

Heracles was gone now and soon he would be too.

That last thought calmed his sobs into hiccups.

They would be together soon.

And there laid a weary lover, with their love, waiting to be returned, both inside the vault and outside it.

One of the pair of lovers would find immediate rest, as sunlight shines on them.

The other would take a bit longer, but would eventually find that same peace when the acheron was burned.


End file.
